NBC boss defends Donald Trump – ‘Saturday Night Live’ decision, citing popularity
The moment that the press had a chance to gather before NBC programming head Robert Greenblatt at the TCA Winter Press Tour on Wednesday, we knew that there would be one question that they were going to push heavily: Why Donald Trump was allowed to host “Saturday Night Live” after the network made such a big deal about terminating their business relationship with him courtesy of the Miss Universe Pageant and “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Ultimately, we’re not sure that Greenblatt really did himself any favors with his response. Basically, his argument back was of the “love it or not” variety, citing Trump as being among the “most important political figures” out there. Basically, he argued that because Trump was getting a lot of attention in the polls, that made him a worthy host despite everything that they did ending the business relationship before.
In the end, we think that nothing from this discussion changes our opinion one way or another regarding political figures and “SNL.” Cameos are fine, but putting on a Presidential candidate as a host should be a no-go, regardless of party. We’re not getting into anyone’s particular beliefs here; instead, we’re speaking more on the basis of comedy. When candidates are trying to appeal to the masses, they have to approach comedy with kid-gloves. Therefore, most of Trump’s hosting gig was neutered and quite-frankly boring in some sketches while terrible in others. Did he deliver big ratings to NBC? Sure, but we feel like the goal should be more delivering very good ratings of people who will want to stick around. We’re not sure many viewers that NBC picked up on the night of Trump’s gig liked most of what they saw. The comedy just wasn’t there.
There is a new “SNL” episode hosted by Adam Driver this weekend, if that helps to keep your head from spinning. You can see the promo for that right now over at the link here.
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